Paper Straw

ABSTRACT

A paper straw has an inner tube, an outer tube, and a pattern portion. The inner tube and the outer tube are both tubular bodies formed by spirally winding paper sheets. The pattern portion is disposed between the inner tube and the outer tube. The paper sheets that are used to wind the inner tube and the outer tube have light-transmissive properties. Then the pattern portion can be externally displayed through the outer tube or the inner tube, and this can avoid the pattern portion directly contacting food or human body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a straw, and more particularly to a paper straw that can provide safety for drinking and can remain a color visual effect.

2. Description of Related Art

Focusing on the environmental and biological hazards of plastic straws, it is necessary to use environmental friendly materials to make the necessary changes to the conventional plastic straws. For this reason, paper, sugarcane fibers or other biodegradable materials have been used in the prior art. There's also a material such as stainless steel or glass to be used for disposable straws. As the disadvantage of stainless steel or glass straw being high cost, paper and fibers became more reasonable materials for producing disposable straw. However, when paper, fibers or other degradable materials are processed into straws, colors or patterns usually need to be printed thereon by a secondary processing. These colors or patterns printed on the straws may be released when contacting with food or user mouth, and this is a risk in use. To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a paper straw to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a paper straw that can provide security for drinking and can provide a color visual effect.

The paper straw in accordance with the present invention has an inner tube, an outer tube, and a pattern portion. The inner tube and the outer tube are both tubular bodies formed by spirally winding paper sheets. The pattern portion is disposed between the inner tube and the outer tube. The paper sheets that are used to wind the inner tube and the outer tube have light-transmissive properties. Then the pattern portion can be externally displayed through the outer tube or the inner tube, and this can avoid the pattern portion directly contacting food or human body

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a paper straw in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective of the paper straw in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is an enlarged cross sectional end view of the straw in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3B is an enlarged cross sectional end view of the straw in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a paper straw in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective of the paper straw in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, and 3B, a first embodiment of a paper straw 10 in accordance with the present invention comprises an inner tube 20, an outer tube 30, an adhesive layer 40, and a pattern portion 50.

The inner tube 20 and the outer tube 30 are both tubular bodies formed by spirally winding paper sheets made of plant fibers. Since the winding technique has been disclosed in the prior art, and the technical characteristics of the present invention are based on the fact that it is not redundant in the description. In addition, it is necessary to explain that the paper sheet used to form the outer tube 30 has a light shielding rate of 10% to 70%. % is better, the material of the paper sheet can be Parchment, Tracing Paper or Glassine, etc., which has better light transmission than a general paper, but not limited to this.

The adhesive layer 40 is disposed between the outer tube 30 and the inner tube 20 for adhering the inner tube 20 and the outer tube 30 coaxially with each other. Specifically, the adhesive layer 40 is formed between the inner tube 20 and the outer tube 30 by an adhesive printing on an external surface of the inner tube 20 and adhering with the outer tube 30. The type or composition of the adhesive used is within the scope of the prior art. Therefore, the applicant does not repeat.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the pattern portion 50 is a spiral printing pattern on the external surface of the inner tube 20, which can be printed on the external surface of inner tube 20 before the adhesive is applied, and then the adhesive is printed.

According to the above-mentioned features and structural relationships, the pattern of the pattern portion 50 can be externally displayed through the light-transmissive property of the outer tube 30, and the adhesive layer 40 can be selected from the adhesive which is still transparent after curing to avoid overshadowing the pattern portion 50. So that the paper straw 10 can have a changeable appearance color, pattern or other identification mark by the presence of the pattern portion 50, and this can increase the value of the paper straw 10.

However, in particular, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the pattern portion 50 is printed on the external surface of the inner tube 20, but the pattern portion 50 may be printed on an internal surface of the outer tube 30. Then the pattern of the pattern portion 50 can be directly displayed through the light-permeable outer tube 30 rather than passing through the adhesive layer 40. Therefore, the material used for the adhesive layer 40 can be free from light transmission and can increase the convenience of industrial manufacturing.

In addition, the pattern portion 50 can be disposed on the adhesive layer 40, which is achieved by the same structure. In addition to being printed with a specific color adhesive, the color can be externally exposed through the outer tube 30. The adhesives of different colors can be printed according to a preset coating method to form a preset pattern, or the pattern can be directly printed on a surface of an applied adhesive, so that the pattern is disposed on the adhesive layer 40.

In order to make the paper straw 10 have the preset pattern, in addition to the first embodiment of the present invention, the pattern is displayed on an outer side of the paper straw 10, and the pattern can also be displayed on an inside of the paper straw 10. With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a second embodiment of the paper straw 10′ in accordance with the present invention, the paper straw 10′ provided in the second embodiment is basically the same as the first embodiment of the present invention except for the following features. The inner tube 20′ is obtained by winding a paper sheet having a light transmitting property, that is, by exchanging the constituent materials of the outer tube 30 and the inner tube 20 of the first embodiment. The pattern portion 50 is disposed on the internal surface of the outer tube 30′, whereby the pattern portion 50′ can be displayed via the light-permeable inner tube 20′, and a preset pattern can be formed in the paper straw 10′ to increase the value of the paper straw 10′.

Based on the above-mentioned first embodiment and second embodiment of the present invention, the skilled person in the art to which the present invention pertains can also combine the above-mentioned two embodiments to form a paper straw 10, 10′ which can reveal the pattern on both the internal surface of the inner tube 20, 20′ and the external surface of the outer tube 30, 30′. It is the structure that is still in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A paper straw comprising: an inner tube being made of plant fibers; an outer tube being made of plant fibers that has a light shielding rate of 10% to 70% and mounted around the inner tube coaxially; and a pattern portion disposed between the inner tube and the outer tube.
 2. The paper straw as claimed in claim 1, wherein a material of the outer tube is selected from Parchment, Tracing Paper, and Glassine.
 3. A paper straw comprising: an inner tube being made of plant fibers that has a light shielding rate of 10% to 70%; an outer tube being made of plant fibers and mounted around the inner tube coaxially; and a pattern portion disposed between the inner tube and the outer tube.
 4. The paper straw as claimed in claim 3, wherein a material of the inner tube is selected from Parchment, Tracing Paper, and Glassine.
 5. The paper straw as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pattern portion is disposed on an external surface of the inner tube.
 6. The paper straw as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pattern portion is disposed on an external surface of the inner tube.
 7. The paper straw as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pattern portion is disposed on an internal surface of the outer tube.
 8. The paper straw as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pattern portion is disposed on an internal surface of the outer tube.
 9. The paper straw as claimed in claim 1, wherein an adhesive layer is disposed between the outer tube and the inner tube for adhering the inner tube and the outer tube.
 10. The paper straw as claimed in claim 3, wherein an adhesive layer is disposed between the outer tube and the inner tube for adhering the inner tube and the outer tube.
 11. The paper straw as claimed in claim 9, wherein the pattern portion is disposed on the adhesive layer.
 12. The paper straw as claimed in claim 10, wherein the pattern portion is disposed on the adhesive layer. 